Customer Reviews

King of All Kings

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Hate Eternal is amazing, if for nothing else than their pedigree. It was started by Erik Rutan, of Morbid Angel fame, and he quickly recruited Doug Ceritto of Suffocation. They got a blaster of a drummer and a killer bassist and grinded away on "Conquering the Throne." This album features a more stripped down, tighter band. Derek Roddy is on drums, and he is simply a machine. Erik Rutan does lead vocals (his vocals have imroved 10 fold over the last album) and lead guitar. Jared Anderson plays bass and backing vocals. He has his own side-project called Internecine, which is in the same vein as this, and defintley worth checking out. The tracks do have a tendency to flow together, but the all rock, so no problems. If you like fast, technical, BRUTAL death metal then look no further. RIYL Krisiun, Morbid Angel, Suffocation, etc. Check out Internecine as well! Stay Metal Erik, and you will go far!

Erik Rutan, now ex-Morbid Angel guitarist/keyboardist, now makes his side project, Hate Eternal, a full time project. Of course, like many others, I was dissapointed upon hearing about Rutan's departure from MB. Yet, it seems for the most part that his leave was not in vain. The guitars on this album are quite hard to describe, a plus in my book, thanks to Rutan's style. One giant complaint this album is that the guitars become so multi-layered that the music becomes jumbled, unorganized, weird; just a plain wall of noise...But for the most part, there are incredible guitar solos, great rhythms, and some great double guitar combos (ie. Servants of the Gods). The bass, through adds a heaviness, is kinda hard to point out. The drums are incredibly fast, have some great percussion and sound great thanks to production. One of my other complaints though is the blastbeats on this album. Of course, it's death metal album, and blast beats are expected, but come on man; coupled with the sometimes white noise-ish guitars and screeched vocals (ie. The Title Track), this is on the edge of just being white noise or a really messed up grindcore band (no offense, Hate Eternal). Those are the reasons I gave the CD 4 stars and not five, because this album is an insanely awesome death metal-ripping chaos ride from start to finish other than those things. Oh, and Morbid Angel fans, this does NOT sound like MB AT ALL. Just so you know.
The Band-
Jared Anderson, bass- Browny points should be given first hand to Jared for helping MB with their recent tour with bass and vocal duties. Jared I believe is the one that does the screeching vocals, which, when well placed, really add to the death metal vibe. Also, Jared's bass is kinda lost within the production sadly, but he makes up for by helping to create some of the album's coolest songs.
Erik Rutan, guitars, vocals, and keyboards- Ah Erik Rutan. What an incredible guitarist and songwriter. Erik single-handed made most of this album, and produced, so many ripping metal points to Rutan. Erik created some of the most oddly timed doble guitar rhythms I have ever heard. It would probably take three guitarists to play these songs the way they are on the CD live. Just check out those double rhythms going right along with the cool double guitar battling solos. Ack! Metal Rules! Anywho, it's also cool to hear Erik's style and voice, since sadly I am yet to hear HE's debut album.
Derek 'One Take' Roddy, drums and percussion- With that one complaint out of the way, Derek has to be one of the most strongest drummers of metal. I mean, thorugh EVERY song, he's either blastbeating at the speed of sound or doublebassing like crazy. Now THAT, my friends, is endurance. His percussion instruments sound cool too.

Overall quite a blistering cool metal album. Well worth the $. Oh, one last note though, DEFINITILY NOT for the timid or inexperienced.

I tend to go with the hardest, fastest and angriest metal ... no compromise ... music that takes no prisoners ...

But THIS ... THIS IS TOTALLY MERCILESS!!!

It should be emblazoned with a government health warning - every track comprises of a merciless, hate-filled attack on the senses!

This album is an extremely technical and brutal statement ... is this the beast that metal's evolving into? Am I getting too old? Where did I put my old Suffocation and Morbid Angel CDs?

I'm giving this CD 4 stars instead of 5 'cos I've been too scared to play it ...

MAMA!!!

After donating seven long years of his life to Morbid Angel and Ripping Corpse, guitarist Erik Rutan decided to leave those groups to focus, full-time, on his side project, Hate Eternal. The group's second album, "King Of All Kings," was released in 2002, and pretty much just picks up where Rutan left off with his previous two bands.

There are only two speeds represented on "King of All Kings": very fast and lightning fast -- it's all about speed, speed, and more speed. Well okay, and crushing heaviness, too. Plus, every second of every rhythm of every song here heaps on gobs of ferocious energy, blinding tempos, scalding guitar leads, grumbling riffs, driving rhythms, ridiculously fast, carnage-inducing blast beat bonanzas (seriously, is drummer even Derek Roddy human?), and deep, "who dares disturb my slumber?"-esque bellows from Erik.

If you're an experienced metalhead and you listen extremely closely to these songs, you might remember one or two of them come album's end. For example, the opening title track is a great representation of "King Of All Kings," as a whole. Between the storming, jackhammer persistence of the smashing drums and the wall-of-sound guitar noise, there is absolutely no room for subtly, here. The music only breathes when a nice, melodic, ascending guitar solo crops up a ways into the song. The rhythmically pounding, thunderous, headbanging power chords which open up the seventh track, "Chants In Declaration," and the walloping, circular, almost buzzsaw blast beats during "Powers That Be" might also engrave themselves to your mind. But 99% of this album is just one long, ultra loud and speedy blur.

There are some advantages and disadvantages to making an album like this. "KOAK" definitely loses some points because every one of these songs, of course, blend together. Thus, in addition to having no real standout tracks, there are no classic songs anywhere to be found here, and there are only a couple of parts which are even remotely catchy.

But there are a few good aspects to making an album which is one long, incessant adrenaline rush. Firstly, it should at least be refreshing to any metalhead to hear no At The Gates influences on this C.D.. Next, this album couldn't be more tight, dark, brutal, blistering, hard-hitting, muscular, or punishing. Thirdly, "King Of All Kings" is completely stripped of fat, so it is very lean and mean, and every moment of this album oozes with rage and violence.

So, this is a hit or miss album (how much you like this album all depends on what your tastes in death metal are.) All things considered, it could definitely benefit from more standout songs, but what this album lacks in memorable songwriting it makes up for in sheer sonic exhilaration, vicious, crushing energy, throat-slashing intensity, and astounding musicianship. And besides, it may be entirely one mood, but there never was much room for texture or several different dimensions in death metal. So, if you're a death metal fan, and you don't mind a lack of standout tracks, go ahead: buy this C.D. and let it rip you apart. You'll be glad you did.

Yes, this album even tackles the mighty Nile for best of 2002. I did not excpect this King of all Kings to be this good. I was noticing all the good reviews on the internet,so I decided to check it out, even though I did find their debut, Conquering The Throne, to get old fast. Erik Rutan's vocal strength is way better than on Conquering. The album really does not have any stand out tracks, but my favorites are The Obscure Terror, In Spirit, and Powers That Be. If you like brutal death metal, then this album will reign supreme in your metal collection for a long time, maybe even until hell freezes over.

Have you ever had one of "those" cds in your collection? You know the ones. You hold them in such high regard that you tell yourself you won't play it too much because you love it so much that you don't want to wear it out and get tired of it, but then you cave in and play it a thousand times a day anyway. This is that cd (for me anyway.) Listen to this when you need to get totally and completely amped up for something, because that is how you will feel after listening to this cd, and if you're at work or sitting around the house or something at the time, you won't know what to do with yourself after you're done listening. You're going to want to punch something or go mess somebody up. It's THAT aggressive. Then again, maybe I just need some help or something. Anyway, you get the point. No finesse here. Just pure, raw, pulverizing, brutal death metal from the word "go". Has some really catchy and addictive riffs too. I'll go for hours at a time with rhythms from "Born by Fire" and "Rising Legions of Black" in my head. But like I said, I might need some help. Don't take my word for it. Just listen.

Hate Eternal is definately a must have for death metal fans!!! The double bass is incredible!!! These guys deliver in terms of brutality and technicality! Derek is the most maniac and fastest drummer there is next to the king, Pete Sandoval. Much heavier than Morbid Angel and Strapping Young Lad, and very atmosphereic. Earache records made the right descision by signing these guys. A must have. For heavier and more technical try Immolation.

What we have here is a factory churning out blast beats. This is immediately followed by.....even more blast beats! Now don't get me wrong, this is not a bad thing. Roddy is a drumming MACHINE. The other two band members aren't exactly technical slouches either. Dare I say, I like Hate Eternal even more than their godfather, Morbid Angel? I haven't heard their first album so I won't pass that judgment just yet. If you like your metal brutal and unrelenting, sort of like a freight train, go ahead. Pick it up. Just make sure you like blast beats first.

Hate Eternal's "King Of All Kings" an exciting and technical death metal album. Erik Rutan proves that he is one of death metals guitar gods especially when you hear the songs "King Of All Kings" and "Powers That Be". The guitar parts of every song on this album is technical. The bass is very hard to hear throughout almost all of this album so that is one of the problems that I have with it. "King Of All Kings" is an exciting riff crazy, blast beat, cookie monster, flesh flaying metal that will lead you to your death. The drummer "One Take" has got alot of technical parts going on as well. He just beats that snare drum untill it sounds like he is hitting a trash can. Yes Hate Eternal is that heavy. If you thought that American Death Metal was just plain old boring then you will be proven wrong by Hate Eternal's "King Of All Kings".

This CD deserves every one of the 5 stars I gave. Hate Eternal tries to be nothing more than what it is, a burning, guitar smashing, pick splitting demon. I saw them live once as King of all Kings was coming out and it's hard to describe, but Erik Rutan sounds like...well the guy sounds like the MGM lion roaring at the beginning of those movies, I swear this and Bloodbath are the kings of Death Metal Growls. Pure intensity and no stopping throughout the whole CD. It's indespensable for my CD's and I would say it's the heaviest i have. Ok before this review gets too long i wanna say that i met a slipknot/mudvayne fan that thought they were into the heaviest stuff around...then i put this on :) he cried like a little girl...buy it